A Shot in the Dark - Yelena Belova (ON HOLD)
by FantasyandHistory
Summary: "It's going to be one hell of a reunion." "You think?" Surrounding the events before, during, and after the 'Black Widow' film! (YelenaxOC)
1. Персонажи (Characters)

Hello and welcome! Since I've been on a role with updating my other stories, I thought I could start a new one!

Here's a Full Summary:

**"It's going to be one hell of a reunion."**

**"You think?"**

**Surrounding the events before, during, and after the 'Black Widow' film!**

**Sascha Shostakov, daughter of Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, is also a Black Widow from the Red Room. She's had a messy life, but one thing she can always count on is having her fellow Black Widow, Yelena Belova, at her side. Together, they will return to Russia with Natasha Romanoff to take down the Red Room once and for all. (YelenaxOC)**

**Part of my Infinity Series**

I do not own any of Marvel's stuff! I only own my characters and their storylines! Thanks and enjoy! :)

* * *

Персонажи (Characters)

-Sascha Shostakov (Саша Шостаков)/Black Widow

"For a bunch of assassins pitted against each other, we sure make a good team."

-Yelena Belova (Елена Белова)/Black Widow

"You don't have to ask me to stay. I'll always stay."

-Natasha Romanoff (Наташа Романоф)/Black Widow

"I thought you'd be happy to see me."

-Alexei Shostakov (Алексей Шостаков)/Red Guardian

"The war is not over, Daughter. Our battles are just beginning."

-Melina (Мелина)/Black Widow

"You're so much like your father. Too much."


	2. To and From Russia With Love

To and From Russia With Love

Natasha Romanoff was not the only Black Widow. Nor was she the only Widow to go rogue. However, some stayed closer to home.

Although escaping the Red Room did not mean ultimate freedom. Instead, it meant a life of constantly being hunted and having to always hide and be on the run. A life, perhaps, better suited to being alone. A very lonely life.

Her father cautioned her against it, getting too attached to someone, even before he knew Sascha had fallen in love. Her mother and sister had been killed in an 'accident', however, the absolutely heartbroken Alexei was certain it had been orchestrated by the Red Room officials.

Alexei Shostakov had been working for the Red Room for many years as the Red Guardian, a KGB super-soldier, enhanced by a special serum. The Room officials decided to subject his daughter to similar testing during her Black Widow training - who knew, if something happened, maybe she would take over the role for him one day. However, she reacted differently to the serum, her body rejecting it. It gave her the intended super-strength, but it also took effect in the form of mental harm, and Sascha would from then on be plagued by crippling dark visions and nightmares. Certainty of something looming in the distant future, but unable to be sure of what.

Difficult circumstances can bring people together, and that was certainly the case for Sascha Shostakov and Yelena Belova, two trainees who, no mattered how hard they tried, never could seem to impress their trainers enough.

Natasha took the two younger women under her wing, she becoming a mentor and older-sister figure to them both. She supported them and tried to help keep them as far from harm's way as possible within the walls of their prison.

But the Red Room was no place for a blossoming romance, especially between two of the trainees, but upon escaping, it was no easier.

Natasha left, heading to America to pursue a different life, leaving the two younger women. They were not alone, however, and had each other. Leaving each other was never an option.

_Anyone else think the 'Black Widow' movie looks freaking amazing?! :D It looks very 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier', which is still my favourite Marvel movie!_

_So if you're reading my 'Endgame' story you'll know that I changed my version of Yelena to Sascha so that I can include Florence Pugh's Yelena in my story :) so here we go! (sorry for the confusion!)_

_Thank you and I hope you enjoy! :)_


	3. Oдин (One)

Oдин (One)

София, Болгария - Sofia, Bulgaria

2014

More bad dreams had Sascha pacing the hotel room floor for at least half an hour in nothing but her underwear and a scratchy wool sweater. She was too cold, then she was too hot, no happy medium. She was utterly exhausted, yet wide awake. She kept sending glances over to the bed at Yelena, the blonde sleeping safely and soundly. Sascha secretly envied Yelena's fast asleep state.

She jumped at every sudden noise - footsteps or voices from the other rooms around them, the heater clicking on, water running through the pipes.

She didn't need to be so worried, they were perfectly safe, for once. But she was paranoid. Always paranoid. Always be alert, their trainers had drilled into them from a young age, and the teaching had stuck.

Although that alertness was failing her right now if she kept jumping at everything.

Soft, gentle arms wrapped around her waist from behind. This didn't cause her to jump. She didn't need to glance back at the bed to know it was now empty. "How long have you been up?" Yelena rested her cheek on Sascha's shoulder.

"Sorry I woke you."

"You didn't." Yelena nuzzled Sascha's neck. "How long?"

Sascha ran a hand over her face. "Couple of hours."

"Dreams again?"

"Something like that."

"Oh, любовь... Here, come sit." Yelena took her hand and led her over to the window seat where they sat down. Once seated, Yelena placed her hands on either side of Sascha's head, beginning to rub slow, soothing circle's on the other woman's temples.

"That's nice," Sascha commented.

"Good."

Sascha reached up to take Yelena's hand and turned her head to kiss Yelena's palm. "Спасибо."

Yelena smiled, then said, "What did you see?"

"The same - just a blur." She paused, considering. "There was something, though..."

"Go on."

"A bright flash of yellow - from a jewel, I think..." Sascha scoffed and shook her head. "But that makes no sense."

"It must mean something."

"Maybe."

Sascha scoffed again. "Ugh, I'm a mess."

"A hot mess." Yelena smirked.

"I'm glad you think so." She glanced over at the empty bedside table. The little bottle was gone. "Where are my pills?"

"I hid them."

"Lena, I need those."

"No, you don't." Yelena tried her best to keep Sascha off the medication, the other woman convinced they helped. "You don't need them," Yelena insisted. "I'm here to help."

"Is this going to be our whole life? You tending to me when my mind snaps back?" Sascha scoffed again. "Some life."

"At least we're together."

"Always the optimist."

"If you won't be."

Sascha leaned against the window. "Are you sure you want this?"

"You didn't have a choice. _They_ did this to you. If you think I blame you for it then I don't."

"да, but you do, have choice. I won't blame you if you want to leave. I won't be happy about it, but I'll understand."

Now Yelena took her face in both hands, firmly, making Sascha look at her and meet her intense gaze. "Don't ever think or say that. I'm not going anywhere."

Sascha sighed. "I just feel like I'm holding you back."

"From what? A better life? Stop it, that's not true. My only life is with you. That's how I want it, and how I thought you wanted it, too."

"да, of course."

"Good. Я люблю тебя, Саша Шостаков."

"Я люблю тебя, Елена Белова. Спасибо."

"For what? Saying 'I love you'?"

"For everything."

Yelena smiled and squeezed her hand. "Come back to bed. Try and get some rest."

"да..."

Still holding her hand, Yelena led her back to bed. "I'm right here beside you if you need me, always."

She always said this, and although Sascha believed her every word of it, she also dreaded the day when Yelena could no longer keep this promise. Not because she stopped believing it herself, but because something stood in the way, between them. And if her vision-dreams were anything to go by, that day might just come their way. She feared it as much as dreaded it.

Translations

да - Yes

любовь - Love

Спасибо - Thank you

Я люблю тебя, Саша Шостаков - I love you, Sascha Shostakov

Я люблю тебя, Елена Белова - I love you, Yelena Belova

_Happy New Year folks! I wanted to wait until the new year to fully start this story!_

_Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	4. Два (Two)

Два (Two)

Сокофия - Sokovia

2016

The train from Budapest to Sokovia left at eleven o'clock in the morning.

After their escape from the Red Room, Sascha and Yelena had been inseparable. They had been inseparable even before that, but this strengthened their already intense bond.

They lived on the run for a while, jumping from place to place, using fake I.D. after fake I.D., allowing their scent to falter. Eventually, they settled down in Budapest, living a quiet life. Well, as quiet a life as two ex-assassins could live.

Budapest - close enough to home but still far enough away.

But then, a couple of years ago, Sascha's visions had started to become stronger, her insomnia worse, so things were becoming more and more disrupted. And it was all only becoming more messy and confusing.

In the wake of the Sokovia Accords, Princess Kalyna's image was everywhere, she being the ruler of Sokovia, so this made sense. What didn't make sense was that, for Sascha, it was like constantly staring into a mirror and seeing her own reflection. She constanstly had to keep doing double-takes, thinking it was her own face she was seeing. Despite a slight difference in shades of red for hair colour and eye colour, their images appeared identical

It was no secret to her that she and the soon-to-be-Queen of the Sokovian throne shared a striking resemblance, but seeing it so frequently and all of the sudden was a strange and constant reminder.

She had heard of resemblances before, but not like this. This wasn't just a resemblance, this was like a clone. She hadn't heard of cloning in the Red Room before, but she wouldn't put it past them. Besides, Sokovia had no connection to the Room, at least as far as she knew.

"I'm starting to wonder if one of my parents had an affair with one of the Sokovian royals." Although this seemed like a lesser option compared to the Red Room cloning people.

"Don't joke about that," said Yelena, but chuckled a little.

Sascha chuckled a little too. Then she turned more serious. "Do you think they had access to cloning technology?"

"Who?"

"The Room."

Yelena sighed before reaching out and giving Sascha's hand a supportive squeeze. "I don't know, to be honest. They kept many secrets. But with all the other stuff they did - horrible, terrible stuff - all that they made possible, maybe... But I don't know."

"I'd like to find out."

"We can look into that next. But this first."

Sascha nodded. She had no intention of digging back into their past anytime soon, if ever. They were gone, they had escaped from it. It was over as far as she was concerned.

Only it wasn't. They may have escaped the Room itself, but never what it did to them.

And, the knowledge that it was all still going on, that the Red Room was still very much active, tugged at her thoughts in the back of her mind. _Those bastards. _Far away, deep in Russia, dozens of other young women were currently being trained and brainwashed into becoming lethal assassins, as they had been since the early 1900s. And this knowledge hurt more than anything. _Those poor girls... They don't deserve that, none of them. None of us..._

Sascha would like nothing more than to burn that entire place to the ground, but, at the same time, also never wanted to lay eyes on it again. Also, the Red Room had expanded, with agents and secret bases all over the world now, so even if they managed to take out the main centre, they wouldn't destroy the whole thing.

The train rode past what were the ruins and remains of Нови Град, Novi Grad, Sokovia's capital city, destroyed by the Avengers last year. Natalia had been one of them, the Avengers, she had been here. So close to home. And now so were they.

They had to do this while the princess was at home. If she was away on business, or perhaps visiting her ally and love the King of Wakanda in his African Kingdom, then it would be widely known that she was out of her own country on duty. So while it increased the risk, it was also a necessary move.

да, they we're going to infiltrate the palace.

* * *

The whole scheme was Yelena's idea. And what a scheme it was. She was certainly thorough and creative.

"The country is so distracted by the Accords at the moment, it's perfect timing," the blonde kept reminding Sascha.

The strawberry-blonde was less convinced, but she trusted Yelena wholeheartedly.

The palace had been 'moved' to the oldest of the country's cities, where Princess Kalyna and her government had been running things in the wake of the capital's destruction.

Yelena had done her research and discovered that the security in the palace was based on facial recognition - perfect if you were pretty much an exact clone of the princess.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Sascha wondered aloud. "I mean, to go to so much trouble for this?"

"You want answers, don't you?" Yelena reminded her. "And I think palace records is a good place to start." She had a point there. If there was any information on this resemblance, records on it, it made sense that a royal family would have access to them.

"You know, out of all the stunts we've pulled, this might just be the craziest," Sascha remarked. In their tiny Sokovian hotel room, she was just fastening a necklace with a feather charm around her neck. With the national symbol of Sokovia being the Firebird, it hadn't been difficult to find an assortment of good with the bird emblazoned on them. They were wasting no time.

"And this one doesn't even involve killing anyone," added Yelena. "And for a couple of trained assassins, I'd say that's good."

"Unusual," agreed Sascha.

"Here, you'll need these." Yelena handed her a pair of amber-coloured contact lenses, the only other slight difference in she and the princess's appearance. Sascha's hazel eyes disappeared and were replaced by the glowing amber.

She then donned a red blazer and turned to face the blonde. "Well?"

"Well, _Princess_-" Yelena smirked. "-You have me convinced. I think you're ready."

_Wow, thank you so much for all the reads, follows, and favourites already! :) Sorry, for the delay in updating, I have a bunch of other stories I'm trying to finish up so I can focus on my new ones! I do have the next few chapters planned out though, so hopefully there will be less of a wait for those! ;)_

_So I saw 'Little Women' and really enjoyed it! The acting was really good - and wow, when Amy burned Jo's book... D: As a writer I definitely understood Jo's reaction! And after seeing that dark side of Amy, I can see why they cast Florence as Yelena! ;)_

_Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :) Cпасибo, до свиданья! (thank you, goodbye!)_


	5. Три (Three)

Три (Three)

Sascha had possessed many false identities in her lifetime as a spy, but she had never impersonated anyone before. This was a first.

_"How are things going so far,_ Princess?" Yelena said through the radio in her ear.

"You've got to stop calling me that."

_"Why, you don't like it?"_

"I like it too much."

Yelena chuckled and Sascha could clearly picture her mischievous smile. "_I'll keep that in mind for later."_

Sascha bit her lip, Yelena's promising words sending chills up and down her spine. "Seriously though, I need to focus."

"Yes, you do. Didn't our trainers drill into you to never become distracted?"

"And to never have anything become more important than a mission," Sascha finished. "That was before I met you." She rounded a corner and faced a sealed doorway. "First security panel ahead," she announced. She approached the screen, touching it with a fingertip, causing it to blink to life.

She had to lean down for the scanner to scan her face for the facial recognition technology. A too-bright red light flashed across her face a few times, up and down, side to side, until there was an affirmative beep.

_Princess Kalyna - Confirmed_

Another scanner appeared, this one to scan her eyes. With such unique eyes, it made sense for the princess to have set up this into the security, and thankfully, Yelena had thought of everything, including the contact lenses.

This time the light, still way too bright, flashed in her eyes, until there was another affirming beep. She was in.

"That was a breeze." Ha, so much for their high-security. Maybe this strange resemblance thing would come in handy in other ways... She might have to use it more often. "I'm in."

_"Good, I'm glad, you're doing great. Now, palace records are in the basement."_

"Going down, then."

* * *

The elevator ride was smooth, but seemed to stretch on forever as it carried her down, down, down, far beneath the palace. If it went any further she would hit the underground train lines.

Finally, it drew to a halt. The doors slid open revealing another set of doors. She had to go through the whole scanner process again. Again, she fooled the system.

These doors opened and when she stepped through them fluorescent overhead lights blinked on.

"Боже мой," she exclaimed.

_"What is it?"_

"The Sokovian royals keep extensive records." Before her were rows upon rows of filing cabinets, no doubt stuffed full of records. And along the wall were various computer screens for digital files. "I wish you'd come with me. This may take a while..."

She had come this far - as overwhelming as it looked, she couldn't stop and turn back now. "Better get started..."

"_Take your time. I'll be here the whole way."_

Sascha set down to work, starting with the princess's own personal file.

_"Any luck?"_

"Not with the resemblance so far. But there are some goodies here..."

"_Oh I bet._"

"Let's just say the Princess of Sokovia is keeping a pretty damn big secret, one that is particularly interesting with the whole Accords deal going on."

She continued, file after file after file.

"Huh, did you know that Princess Kalyna and Prince T'Challa of Wakanda had an arranged engagement? That's awkward, they're like best friends."

_"Interesting."_

"Guess they thought it would strengthen their alliance. Sounds super old-fashioned to me."

_"I'm going to try hacking into the system's digital records, see if there's anything there."_

"Thank you, that will help." Even with two of them searching it would take them forever to go through all these files.

While Yelena hacked into the system, Sascha continued to flip through the masses of files with little luck. But oh, she could think of some people who would literally kill to get their hands on some of this information.

"Huh, here's some files on Sokovia during the war. The Allies, Sokovia as part of the Soviet Union... Hang on-" Something caught her eye, or rather someone.

"_What?"_ Yelena asked when Sascha remained silent for a few moments.

"I found another."

"_Another?_"

"Look-alike."

"_Who?_"

"This is an old S.H.I.E.L.D. file, the S.S.R. then. This is post-war, 1949. Must have been a mission in Eastern Europe. But she looks just like me... But that doesn't make any sense, this is the '40s. It's impossible..." She had thought it was impossible before, but now it just kept seeming to become more and more so.

"_Who is she?_"

"An agent. Karen Granger. It seems she was being monitored, as well as others. Agent Margaret Carter, Agent Jack Thompson... Cold War stuff, I guess."

"_Anything else on her?_"

"Not that I can see here - it's like she was there and then she just, well, disappeared..."

"Uh, Sasch, I've got eyes on security cameras. You've got company coming. One guard, armed."

"Okay, _Спасибо_." She drew up her sleeve, where her widow sting wrist guard sat.

The doors slid open a few moments later to reveal said guard. He looked surprised to see her. "Здравствуйте, принцесса."

"Здравствуйте," Sascha replied.

"I thought you had meeting."

"I did. I do. I was just checking something."

"да. I will take you to your meeting then."

"Okay... I'll be just a minute." She continued to scan the file, more urgently now. "You know, it's fine, I can go on my own."

"It is my duty, принцесса." He wouldn't budge.

"да..." Well, he really left her no choice...

There was a flash of red as she zapped him in the neck. He collapsed to the floor.

"Stand down." A heavy accented voice, like hers only with a Sokovian accent, spoke from the doorway.

Sascha turned to face her other visitor. "Well, this is awkward." Princess Kalyna stood in the doorway.

* * *

The princess's two head guards stood armed on either side of Sascha, the princess herself standing before them, arms crossed.

"Surprised?" Sascha asked after a long silence that she just wanted broken.

The princess gave a brief smile. "Not exactly. You?"

The Russian woman shrugged. "Wish I could say I was."

"Trust me, this-" Kalyna gestured between them. "-Is as much of a mystery to me as it is to you, sorry. And we're not the only ones."

"Yeah, apparently not. Comforting. Well, I guess I can take these lenses out of my eyes now - and good thing too, they're stinging my eyes."

"Tell me, what's a spy and assassin doing impersonating me and snooping through my records."

"Ex-assassin."

"Pardon me, spy and _ex-_assassin."

Sascha smirked - two could play at this. "Tell me, what is the enhanced Princess of Sokovia doing signing the Sokovia Accords limiting enhanced beings."

Something flashed behind the princess's eyes, her expression changing ever so slightly. Sascha caught it though, subtle as it was. She also caught the subtle stiffening of the guards at her sides. She had to give the other woman credit for holding such composure to hearing probably one of her biggest secrets out loud.

She continued. "I wish I had some fancy power, like fire perhaps, жар-птица-"

"Enough," snapped the female guard.

"Niyah." The princess shook her head to the guard before addressing Sascha again. "I have to put my country and its needs first."

"You must feel very trapped."

"You have no idea."

"Oh I do, I've been there. Different context, but still trapped."

"Well, Sascha Alexeyevna Shostakov-"

"How do you know so much about me?"

"We have a mutual friend."

Footsteps signalled someone else joining them. Now Sascha was the one who was surprised.

Natasha smirked at her. "Hello, Sister."

* * *

Translations

Боже мой - Oh my God

Здравствуйте, принцесса - Hello, Princess

Здравствуйте - Hello

принцесса - Princess

да - Yes

жар-птица - Firebird

_Our Black Widows have reunited! ;) And yes, this story does feature/mention the OCs from my Black Panther and Bucky stories, who also star in my Infinity War and Endgame stories! :) It's all connected!_

_Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :) до свиданья! (Goodbye!)_


	6. четыре (Four)

четыре (Four)

"Natalia."

"Well, I'll leave you two to chat." Kaylna nodded to her guards who swapped Sasacha's side for the princess's.

"Thank you, Princess."

"Agent Romanoff." On that note, the princess and her guards left the two assassins facing each other.

Natasha was looking at Sascha the way one might look at a guilty child.

"Natalia Romanova," Sascha remarked, mostly just to break the silence and tension in the room that had suddenly sky-rocketed.

"Sascha Shostakov," Natasha retorted.

"Сестра."

Natasha smirked. "Sis."

"You seem pretty close with the royalty,"

Natasha merely shrugged. "We met at the Accords signing."

"Heard that didn't go very well."

"It was complicated, to say the least."

"Hmm. I also hear you're a bit of a criminal now."

Again, Natasha shrugged, not seeming too concerned by this accusation. "Depends on who you ask. But then again, I guess that makes two of us."

"I guess so."

"Where's Yelena?" asked Natasha after another brief silence, both spies trying to read the other.

"What about her?" Speaking of Yelena, she was being very quiet on the other end of the radio line, most likely trying to assess the situation from where she was, only able to hear all that was going on.

"I know that wherever you are, she's close by, and vice-versa." Now Natasha smirked. "You know, it makes me happy you two stuck together all this time."

"Yes. Unlike you, who left."

"I did what I had to. What was right for me at the time."

Now it was Sascha's turn to shrug. "If you say so."

"So, where is our third Widow friend?"

"She's not here."

"But she's not far."

"Fair enough, though not that I would tell you."

"I'm sorry, which of us just got caught?"

"Or which of us is about to be?" Sascha sent a zap from her sting wristguard; Natasha was quick to dodge it though. She went crashing to the floor, arming herself by withdrawing her gun in case Sascha tried another attack. This gave Sascha time to flee out the window.

"Yel, if you're still there, the mission is compromised. You know what that means." Knowing Yelena, she was already onto their Escape Plan.

"Damn." Natasha was getting to her feet when Kalyna and her guards burst back into the room.

"I take it the talk did not go well."

"Nope. She's gone."

"I will send out a patrol."

"Thanks, but no need. This is between us," Natasha assured her.

"But you say she is dangerous."

"Oh, very. But she's like me. I'm sorry you had to get involved. Besides, I have a good feeling about where I'll find them."

* * *

Sascha just made the next train out of Sokovia heading to Budapest. Her radio line to Yelena was dead - she'd tried it a few times - so she guessed Yel had already fled.

People kept eyeing her, most likely trying to figure out whether or not she was really the princess. She put on a different accent for the remainder of the trip, just in case.

It was nearing midnight when she made it home. The apartment was dark when she reached it. Maybe she had beat Yelena home. However, she was sure Yel had gotten a head start.

She unlocked the door, slowly pushing it open, withdrawing her gun which she held firmly in her hands. She took the first few steps inside, greeted by silence and darkness. "Yel?"

She cut through the living room until she reached the doorway to the kitchen. She flicked the light on, revealing the empty room.

The gun shot from her hand, striking the floor across the room when it was kicked from her hand. Sascha barely had time to react before she was thrown to the ground - she did catch a flash of golden hair though.

She flipped herself back onto her feet, ducking when another swing was made her way, this time with a knife.

She kicked at the knife, then throwing Yelena to the ground once she was unarmed, using her same attack against her. This time, both rolled to the floor.

Sascha landed heavily on the rug with a groan that quickly dissolved into a chuckle. "So this is my welcome home, then?"

Yelena stretched out on the rug. "Just keeping you on your toes."

"Right."

They lay there on the floor, eyes locked, before both dissolving into a fit of giggles.

"I thought I might have beat you home."

"You're fast, but not that fast." Yelena grinned, propping herself up on her elbow to look at Sascha. "I got your stuff, by the way. Put it in our room."

"Ah, Спасибо. You think of everything."

"Well, we both had to get our asses out of there pretty quick."

"It worked." Sascha tucked her hands behind her head and stared up at the ceiling. "She was there, Natalia."

"I know. Which means she probably isn't far behind us."

"да."

* * *

"Put the vodka and pills back." The kitchen light flicked on to reveal a very not-so-happy Yelena standing in the doorway.

It was the middle of the night. They had had a long and busy and well, eventful day. Sascha should have been fast asleep. Her broken mind, however, had other ideas.

Sascha's hand froze where it was mid-reach in front of the half-empty bottle of vodka. "Uhh... I was thirsty."

Yelena's expression remained unchanged. "Try again."

Sascha sighed. "Dreams again."

Now Yelena sighed and came to pull up a chair at the table. "I tell you not to hide this from me."

"I don't want to bother you with it."

"And I tell you it's no bother. Please, believe me on that." Yelena took away both bottles.

Sascha buried her face in her hands. Yelena spun around when she heard a sob from the other woman.

"I'm just so damn tired."

"Oh, Любовь, I know. I'm sorry." Yelena sat next to her, resting Sascha's head against her shoulder and stroking her hair. "Tell me what you saw," she said after a moment.

"I saw red hair."

"Natasha."

"Unmistakably. And..."

"What?"

"Papa and Melina too..."

"Our old family."

"да."

"It's been so long since we've seen any of them..."

"да."

"Anything more with the yellow jewel?"

"No, not this time. Just them." It had been a while since she'd seen anything of the strange yellow glow.

"But she's coming, Natasha. She's probably already in Hungary."

Yelena nodded. "Then we'd best be prepared for her. A little welcome home for our sister dear."

* * *

Translations

Сестра - Sister

Спасибо - Thank you

да - Yes

Любовь - Love

_Just had to have some flirty fighting between Sascha and Yelena ;) _

_Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	7. пять (Five)

пять (Five)

Sascha stayed awake for most of the rest of the night. Eventually, she gave up trying to sleep - which seemed impossible even with Yelena wrapped comfortingly around her - and found her way back to the couch with the vodka.

It wasn't only her stupid mind that was keeping her awake tonight, though. It was also what Yelena had said.

_"Our old family."_

Yelena's words replayed over and over again in her head. Sascha clenched her jaw.

She couldn't blame Yelena, couldn't be mad at her, but her words were a painful reminder. Of course she couldn't blame her - she had lost her own blood family at a young age, all of them, so Alexei, Melina, Natalia, and Sascha had been her only family figures. When they had welcomed her with open arms, she had gladly accepted and they became her family. Maybe it was selfish of Sascha to want her family to just be her family. At least she still had some of her blood family left.

But that was just it - Sascha already had a family. Her father, mother, and sister. Alexei, Sonya, Vera and Sascha. It was only after her mother and sister's deaths had Melina, Natalia, and Yelena come into the picture.

She knew her father was still just as heartbroken as she was - family was everything to Alexei. But then, if that were true (which she knew it to be), how could he have moved on and replaced her mother and sister so quickly? She had always been bitter about it. That had been the start of their strained relationship, when father and daughter had always been close.

She had a certain bitterness about it that wouldn't go away. And it certainly hadn't helped when Natalia had abandoned them. No, that had only made the bitterness worse.

Honestly, she just wanted it to be her and Yelena now. Perhaps this was selfish too, but having lost so much time - having lost so much in general - to the Red Room, she thought some selfishness here was warranted. They had to make up for all that lost time and make the most of the time they had now.

Sure, Sascha herself had called Natalia their sister, сестра, but she had said so in a sneering, mocking tone. She had never really believed it, never really seen Natalia in that way, despite Natalia having done so much for her and Yelena during their time in the Red Room. And she believed it even less when Natalia had left.

No, Natalia Romanova was an ally at most, at best - but, then again, even that was questionable with her.

_"Our old family." _She took another swig of vodka as Yelena's words from the night before continued to repeat themselves in her head, replayed over and over, haunting her. She hadn't wanted to cause another argument over it, as there had been many arguments between them over it before, so she had just ignored it, or tried to, at least hadn't said anything concerning it. Yelena knew how she felt about it, and she, in turn, knew how Yelena felt.

"You're unbelievable." Yelena was up, standing in the doorway, arms crossed and looking very unimpressed. Sascha didn't even bother putting the bottle down - it was clear she had been drinking again.

Yelena heaved a heavy sigh. "What time did you get up?"

"Шесть. I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd just get up."

"And drink?" Sascha said nothing. Yelena sighed again. "More visions?"

"Always more."

"Anything more about our family?"

Sascha's fists clenched. There it was again. _Our family..._ "нет."

Yelena said nothing more and went into the kitchen to get something to eat. She didn't ask if Sascha wanted anything. Great - first thing in the morning and they were both already upset.

Finally, Sascha set the vodka bottle down and instead picked up the TV remote. She flipped the channels to the news where she found some Hungarian coverage on the incident in Lagos. The Avengers in Lagos Nigeria, the fated mission that set the stage for the Sokovia Accords. It was still a big issue, even weeks later, being covered internationally. What to do with these so-called superheroes? What to do, what to do?

Photographs of each of the Avengers members who had been present in Lagos that day flashed up on the screen. Sascha nearly dropped the remote.

"Yel, come see this!"

"что?"

Sascha nodded to the TV screen. Yelena came and joined her on the couch.

"Natalia was there."

"да."

"But see, her, the blonde - she looks just like-"

"You."

"да, but exactly like the woman in the file I found in Sokovia, Agent Granger. But this is Agent Liv Sword, with S.H.I.E.L.D. But they look identical. But Agent Granger's file was from post-Second World War - that's impossible..."

Yelena nodded silently - neither had an answer to this.

"You really see them as family?" Sascha was the one to break the silence.

"Yes, we've been over this."

"да ."

"Many times."

"да."

"You really want to do this again?

Sascha sighed. "нет."

"Хорошо. Cause neither do I." She got up and headed back into the kitchen.

"It seems to be taking Natalia a long time to find us," Sascha called to her.

"да. Hopefully she didn't run into too much trouble along the way," Yelena called back from the other room.

"Natalia always had a way of attracting trouble. But, then again, we all do."

* * *

Translations

сестра - Sister

да - Yes

Шесть - Six

нет - No

Хорошо - Good

_So unfortunately, the 'Black Widow' movie has been delayed - I'm so sad! But with all the craziness happening in the world right now, it's not so surprising. That being said, this does complicate things for this story - I'm not sure I'll be able to update this story right away :( I can try to piece together some story from my ideas and what I've seen in the trailers, but for now I think I'd better put it on hold - my apologies. _

_Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :) And I hope to see you all when this story continues! _


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